Izuku planned it all out. He took advantage of his position within the Hero Commission to gather the necessary information and keep an eye on Jikan, making sure they didn't attract any unwanted attention for now. No, he needed them to rewind time once more, to give Izuku another chance at this. A chance to show Kacchan that he was still the same, that he hadn't changed- Or rather, that the change wasn't irreversible. He could still be a hero the way he used to be. Selfless and caring. And so, for the first time in a long while, he looked forward to waking up in the doctor's office, squeezing his All Might plushie while Garaki told them he wouldn't get a quirk.
He knew how to sabotage the machine, knew how to keep Jikan away from the most crucial element of their plan: Eri. All he had to do was kidnap the girl. He would keep her from the harm that would befall her if she were to land in Overhaul's care and he would keep Jikan from using her quirk to mess with time. It was a win-win situation! All he had to do was take her before she turned three, since she developed her quirk before the age of four, like most children did. Izuku's body would be twelve years old by then, strong enough to use most of his quirks if he was careful about the power output. He'd have to train while staying under the radar of the Hero Commission, though.
Or maybe he didn't need to stay out of the open at all?
Maybe if he just disguised himself...
And so, at the bright young age of nine, Izuku became a vigilante in his neighborhood. This way he could train and help people! Vigilantes are just heroes without licenses, after all. All he needed to do was cover up his face and make sure not to talk too much so people wouldn't suspect he was a child. He also made sure to get away before the police showed up so they couldn't arrest him. The same couldn't be said about pro heroes, though... A few of them had tried to catch him, to no avail. Izuku had a quirk for every occasion so they didn't stand a chance. That and he grew up in this neighborhood multiple times, he knew these heroes and what they could do.
Some handled it better. Left him to do his thing, accepted his help whenever he showed up out of the blue. They didn't strike a friendly conversation by any means, but they didn't try to point out how illegal his activities were, either. Izuku appreciated that type of hero the most. He earned their respect. Of course there were also a couple who instantly knew they were dealing with a child. Those were the annoying ones. Heroes who tried to take care of him, to keep him out of harm's way. They asked about curfews and schoolwork, talked about worried parents, about adult responsibilities. Izuku was older than all of them combined, for crying out loud!
"You out again, kid?"
Then there was Eraserhead. Izuku glanced aside as the man landed on the metal fire escape he was sitting on. The alley they were in was dark enough not to be seen, even if Izuku was wearing a brightly coloured All Might hoodie and a white fox festival mask. He didn't get why he was running into Eraser so much these days. His patrol route was nowhere near here and yet for the last couple of days he seemed just around the corner. Always there whenever Izuku sat down to rest.
"Stalking me again, I see," he said, frowning when the pro handed him one of those take-away coffee cups.
"It's hot chocolate," Aizawa clarified. "Weather's getting colder, you know?"
"I'm not taking off my mask."
"I know."
They sat in silence for a while after that, simply watching the few people who walked by on the main road. He was right, the weather was getting colder, meaning there were less people out at this hour. It promised to be a quiet evening. Izuku didn't mind though. Getting out there wasn't just about training and helping people. No, because no matter how hard he tried, he found himself being selfish. Wanting to get away from the restrictions of childhood, the cage that was his home. Don't get him wrong, he loved his mother. Inko was sweet and kind and the best mom Izuku could wish for. But she could be overbearing at times, too worried about her poor defenseless quirkless son. Izuku didn't have the heart to talk back to her, and so here he was. Hoping to get away from it all.
"How old are you?"
Izuku frowned, not liking the fact Eraser was asking questions.
"None of your business."
"I see," he hummed. "Well, I'm gonna be honest with you, kid. You've got a strong quirk and you haven't gone unnoticed. There are bad people out there who are keeping an eye on you, trying to find an opportunity to scout you."
"So what?" Izuku asked. "You're here to protect me or something?"
"In a way," he said. Ugh, why did he have to be so cryptic? "Someone I know brought you to my attention. Said that a powerful little vigilante was jumping around at night, but that nobody with your quirk was written into the quirk registry anywhere. And I... I wanted to make sure you were alright. That you're not in any trouble, at home or anywhere else. So please tell me at least that much, just to ease my mind."
"My family is fine," Izuku sighed. "I go to school, got enough food and water and a warm bed to return to. Is that what you wanted the hear, Eraserhead?"
"If you go to school, you're a registered citizen... So how come your quirk isn't in the registry..?" he mumbled, more so to himself than to Izuku.
"It's cause I'm registered as quirkless," he told him while getting up to his feet. He probably shouldn't have said that, but it was too late to take back now. With that he took the hot chocolate, which wasn't all that hot anymore, and activated Blackwhip in combination with Float to get out of there. Eraserhead didn't try to follow him, so he was able to make a clean getaway and slip into his room unnoticed. He hesitated a little before using Kacchan's quirk to heat up his palms, warming the chocolate milk back up.
"And if I see you use my quirk one more time, you're dead to me."
As long as he didn't see it, it should be fine, right? Besides, it was just hot chocolate! And Izuku couldn't possibly use the microwave to heat it up at this hour, his mom would definitely hear!
"You know he didn't mean it, right?" Katsuki said, feeling the weight of his sorrow. "He felt angry and betrayed. I'm sure that if-"
"He has every right to feel angry and betrayed," Izuku said, staring down at the cup in his hands. "I know what you're going to say, okay? To give him some space, to make him remember, to talk or fight it out- But it's not that easy, not anymore."
"If you could get him to understand then-"
"What do you know?" Izuku snapped, glaring at the ghost of the man he loved. "You're not Kacchan. You may look and talk like him, but you don't know how he feels at all! So stay out of this!"
Katsuki's eyes widened as he took a step back, quickly hiding whatever emotional turmoil he was experiencing with his hair as he vanished in thin air. Izuku clenched his fists, hating the way tears pricked in his eyes as he threw his head onto his pillow, the hot choco forgotten on his bedside table. Great! Now he was a goddamn mess! A small pop escaped from his hand, causing the tears to burst from his eyes. He messed up! He messed up so bad and there was no way he'd be able to solve it! His relationship with Kacchan, the one constant in his life, had been ruined forever!
He took a shaky breath, turning to face the take-away hot chocolate next to him. Aizawa would be so disappointed in him, too. He would comfort him and then lecture him and help him, Izuku was sure. He was a teacher, after all. Always had been and always will be. Caring for troubled teens was something infused in his person, a crucial part of who he was. Just like being a hero was an essential part of who Izuku was, a part he threw away for the sake of the greater good. He'd wanted to sacrifice himself, to make himself a martyr. No wonder Kacchan was so angry with him, it was everything he'd tried to get him to stop doing all those years ago.
But being selfish without being, you know, selfish, was an art Izuku hadn't figured out yet. There was a fine line between wanting to help and wanting to get your way. Between wanting what was best for others and wanting what was best for you. Not that Izuku had ever desired what was best for him. If anything, everything he'd done had only pushed him further away from his friends and family, further from his dreams and goals. So even when he was being selfish, pursuing his own path, wanting to get his way no matter what, he was still the absolute worst at looking after himself. How can you be selfish and be so incredibly bad at it?!
"You're being too hard on yourself."
Izuku blinked and sniffed, glancing aside at Nana.
"You're lashing out to the people who want to help you, even if you're not happy with the life you're leading," she said with a sad smile. "Doesn't that remind you of someone?"
Izuku frowned, knowing who she was referring to. His situation was nothing like Tomura's. Shigaraki never had a choice, never knew anything else. He knew what father was planning, knew he didn't want to be a puppet, but he still went along with it, refusing to hear what the heroes had to say. He'd been manipulated and brainwashed by All For One. Izuku had done this all on his own. There wasn't anyone influencing his actions or forcing him to take a certain path. Except... Except that was kinda what Jikan was doing, weren't they? Jikan's actions and his own overthinking had led him down this road, and now it was too late to turn back.
"It's never too late to try and be better," Nana told him, patting his head as she pulled his blanket up to his shoulders. "Try to get some rest. We'll talk about this in the morning."
Izuku felt exhausted all of the sudden, nodding at Nana's words as he closed his eyes. It didn't take long to succumb to the darkness.
//\\
\\//
Katsuki wondered whether Izuku had seen him. He wasn't exactly being subtle, even if he was trying his damn best to blend in with the background. A failed attempt, really, cause Katsuki spotted him the moment they ran out on the playground. Eraserhead, staring at their school from an alley across the street, covered by some of the trees that surrounded their small campus. He didn't need to guess as to why he was there or why he was watching them. No, he knew all about Deku's nightly escapades.
It was strange, to wake up and remember with seemingly no trigger at all. To just come into being. But that's what happened. For the first time in this time loop crisis, he remembered on his own. Well, that wasn't entirely true. It was Izuku who'd remembered, and since Katsuki was connected to him in mind and spirit, one touch was enough to trigger his own memories as well. He could sense One For All within his friend, could vaguely hear the voices of the vestiges in his mind when he was close enough, even if they weren't manifesting in reality.
That's how he knew what was going on. Not that it took a genius to figure out it was Deku who was hopping around at night. Aizawa must've figured it out, too. Katsuki huffed, glancing aside at Izuku, who was mindlessly playing in the sand. Warning him about being caught was out of the question. Hell, Izuku didn't even know Katsuki remembered at all. No, Katsuki wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine, to leave him in the dark, to simply observe as he fumbled around. To maybe intervene if things got bad, if Izuku was on the brink of going mad.
"He's already on the brink of madness, you know?"
Katsuki scoffed, ignoring the voices in his mind. He was close enough to Izuku for the vestiges to reach out to him, to talk to him directly instead of using his essence as a proxy. Which felt fucked up, let me tell you. They would just overload the part of him that was trapped within One For All with information and once Katsuki would touch Izuku- BAM! Instant overload. Not fun.
"He's in pain. He's not taking your rejection well," another one told him. He should've thought about that shit sooner. Izuku was the one who abandoned him first. The one who rejected Katsuki's help and love and affection. It was only fair this way.
"Eraserhead is onto him," Nana said. The only reason he knew it was her was because she was the only woman who'd ever inherited the quirk. It made it easier to distinguish her voice from the others if he wasn't able to see them. "Izuku told him he's registered as quirkless, and in this time and era, there are only so many quirkless children around."
"That's his own goddamn fault then, isn't it?" Katsuki mumbled, shooting another glare towards Eraserhead before focussing back on the game he was playing. He wasn't paying it too much attention, but he didn't need to either. It was a damn kid game, so he was still the fucking best. "I'm not warning him."
"Maybe not him," someone said, pulling his focus towards the teacher supervising on the playground. Fuck no. Katsuki wasn't meddling in Izuku's mess, no way. He wasn't gonna report Aizawa to his teacher. Wasn't gonna tell her some weird homeless looking hobo was watching the school like a hawk. And yet their playtime was suddenly cut short and the teacher ushered them inside as the kids complained about it. Katsuki wasn't doing this for Izuku. He wasn't gonna help that asshole. This was just a one time thing, understand?!
"Sure thing kid."